Introduction to Sweden's Legal System

Government

Sweden is a civil law country. It is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary form of Government.

The current Constitution was adopted in 1974. The Swedish Constitution is made up of four fundamental texts:

the Instrument of Government

the Freedom of the Press Act

the Act of Succession

the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression

The Swedish Parliament, the Riksdag (external link), is the legislative branch of the Swedish Government. Among its responsibilities lies the enactment of new laws.

If the Constitution does not name the Riksdag as the sole legislature, the Executive may pass ordinances in those areas. These areas of law can be said to be neutral or positive to the individual as they do not impose obligations on the individual or regulate economic relations.

Courts

Sweden has two parallel court systems, the general courts that are comprised of district courts, courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court, and the general administrative courts that are comprised of county administrative courts, administrative courts of appeal, and the Supreme Administrative Court. In addition, there are several special courts and tribunals, such as the Labor Court and the Market Court, that hear specific kinds of cases and matters.

Official Sources of Law

In Sweden the most important sources of law are statues, court decisions, and legislative history.

Statues

Laws and ordinances (regulations) are published in the Swedish Code of Statutes (Svensk författningssamling) which is available in printed form and on the Internet. The laws and ordinances are published in chronological order and are given a chronological number to represent the year and the order it was enacted. For example the Aliens Act: Utlänningslag (2005:716).

Court Decisions

It is the Supreme Court’s responsibility to try cases that may develop the law and thus create precedents.

The Supreme Court’s decisions are not legally binding on the lower courts but the Supreme Court’s decisions are used as guidance and are considered when similar cases are tried.

Legislative history

A law’s legislative history is an important tool for interpreting the law in Sweden. A proposal for new legislation will often come from the Executive in the form of a Government Bill (Proposition). Legislation initiatives can also come from members of parliament, the public and public authorities. Before presenting the Bill to the Riksdag it must be analyzed by officials at the relevant ministry. The reports from these evaluations are published in the Government Report Series (Statens Offentliga Utredningar).

Other interested parties are given an opportunity to submit comments before the ministry drafts the final Bill. If the proposed law has important implications for private citizens it is referred to the Council on Legislation before it is presented to the Riksdag.

Print Sources

Statues

Court Decisions

Supreme Court cases are published in the privately published publication Nytt Juridiskt Arkiv (NJA). The First part of NJA contains reports on the Supreme Court’s most important decisions and information on its other decisions. The second part contains information about new legislation and preparatory work.

The Supreme Administrative Court’s decisions are published in Regeringsrättens årsbok (RÅ).

Nytt Juridiskt Arkiv, P.A. Norstedt & Söner, KKV18.A35.N98

Regeringsrättens årsbok (RÅ), Norstedt & Söner, Law Sweden 5 1912 –

Legislative history

Government Reports are given a number that represents the year of publication and a chronological number. Government Reports can be accessed from the Library of Congress through the call number below.

Statens Offentliga Utredningar, J406 R15

Government Bills are also given a number that represents the year of consideration and a chronological number. For example: